The Year Neon Jammed Britain’s Radios
Z Rozdíly.cz
When Radio Met Neon in Parliament
It sounds bizarre today: in the shadow of looming global conflict, Parliament was wrestling with the problem of neon interfering with radios.
Labour firebrand Gallacher, demanded answers from the Postmaster-General. How many complaints had rolled in about wireless sets being ruined by neon signage?
The figure was no joke: the Department had received nearly one thousand reports from frustrated licence-payers.
Picture it: listeners straining to catch news bulletins, drowned out by the hum of glowing adverts on the high street.
Major Tryon confessed the problem was real. The snag was this: there was no law compelling interference suppression.
He spoke of a possible new Wireless Telegraphy Bill, but stressed that the problem was "complex".
In plain English: no fix any time soon.
Gallacher shot back. People were paying licence fees, he argued, and they deserved a clear signal.
From the backbenches came another jab. If neon was a culprit, weren’t cables buzzing across the land just as guilty?
Tryon deflected, admitting it made the matter "difficult" but offering no real solution.
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Looking back now, this debate is almost poetic. Back then, neon was the tech menace keeping people up at night.
Eighty years on, the irony bites: the once-feared glow is now the heritage art form begging for protection.
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So what’s the takeaway?
First: neon signs in London has always rattled cages. It’s always pitted artisans against technology.
Second: every era misjudges neon.
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Here’s the kicker. When we look at that 1939 Hansard record, we don’t just see dusty MPs moaning about static.
So, yes, old is gold. And it always will.
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Forget the fake LED strips. Glass and gas are the original and the best.
If neon could jam the nation’s radios in 1939, it can sure as hell light your lounge, office, or storefront in 2025.
Choose glow.
We make it.
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